Delta flight makes emergency landing at Buffalo airport

Detroit-bound plane loses cabin pressure

An international Delta Air flight between Ottawa and Detroit was forced to make an emergency landing Friday at Buffalo Niagara International Airport after a mechanical problem resulted in the loss of cabin pressure, according to officials from the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority.

The 46 people aboard Flight 4015 – a CRJ-200 jet – left Ottawa at about 9 a.m. and landed safely at the airport in Cheektowaga at about 11:20 a.m., according to C. Douglas Hartmayer, NFTA spokesman.

“Somewhere en route, they experienced some mechanical problems that caused the pressure to change,” Hartmayer said.

Three people were treated by NFTA airport firefighters for minor injuries, including one with a head injury and two others for “shortness of breath.” However, none required further medical attention.

Because it was an international flight, the aircraft taxied down to the international area of the airport, and all of the passengers were kept in a holding area for international passengers pending clearance by federal authorities.

The plane remained grounded in Buffalo late Friday.

It was unclear whether a subsequent examination of the aircraft revealed defects that limited its ability to again take off or if Friday’s inclement weather played a factor in that decision, according to Hartmayer.

The passengers were being accommodated in Buffalo by Delta Air, and representatives from the airline were working late Friday to get them on to their next destination.

Hartmayer added that the oxygen masks in the aircraft deployed and performed as designed during the flight.